There’s no doubt the guy is great. But how great is he? BaseballDailyDigest.com put it in some context:

--Pujols’ career-low in wOBA is .402 in 2002. By comparison, Chase Utley, Miguel Cabrera, Mark Teixeira, and Adrian Gonzalez had wOBA’s of .402 in 2009. That’s right: Pujols at his worth is only playing at the level of Miguel Cabrera.

--Pujols’ career-high in wOBA is .462 in 2003. Since 2001, only Barry Bonds has had a higher wOBA (2002-04, of course).

--Pujols hit 47 HR, drove in 135 runs, and stole 16 bases in 2009. There are only been 13 other player-seasons that have matched those numbers (at least 45 HR, 130 RBI, and 15 SB). Ken Griffey, Jr. had four such seasons, Alex Rodriguez three, and Larry Walker, Sammy Sosa, Andres Galarraga, Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays, and Babe Ruth one apiece.

--Pujols’ career-low in OPS+ is 151 in 2002. That season alone would place him in a tie for 30th on the all-time leaderboard in career OPS+ with Gavvy Cravath.

--Pujols’ career average OPS is 172. He is currently tied with Mickey Mantle for sixth all-time, behind only Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Barry Bonds, Lou Gehrig, and Rogers Hornsby

--The Cardinals have paid Pujols $76.3 million since 2002. According to FanGraphs, he has been worth nearly $230 million in that same span of time. The Cards have theoretically gotten triple their investment, and they still have two more seasons in which they control him (club option in 2011).

Pujols is no stranger to MVP consideration. He has now won it three times and finished in the top four of the voting in eight of his nine MLB seasons. A look at his numbers in his three winning years

Year   G   HR RBI  AVG OBP  SLG
2005 161 41 117 .330 .430 .609
2008 148 37 116 .357 .462 .653
2009 160 47 135 .327 .443 .658

COMPLETE AWARD WINNERS

MLB st. louis cardinals, nl mvp, albert pujols